August 8 - 16:
Noah's son, Limhi, returned with some of the men, to the people they had left behind. The Lamanites allowed them to return to the city, but they were forced to pay a heavy tribute to the Lamanite king and Lamanite guards were placed around the city to prevent their escape.
The wicked priests did not return, but continued on in the wilderness. One day they came upon a group of young Lamanite women bathing in a lake. They kidnapped the women and forced them into marriages, since they had left their own wives and children behind. By the time the Lamanites found them, the women had already given birth to children by these Nephite men and they pleaded with the brethren for the lives of their husbands. A truce was declared and the priests of Noah, in essence, became Lamanites. Some of them even held political positions of power within the Lamanite camps.
Alma and his people fled and eventually ended up in a place they called the Waters of Mormon. This is most likely Lake Atitlan in the lowlands of Guatemala. There, Alma challenged the people to enter the waters of baptism and about 200 were baptized that day. They became a righteous people and the Lord called Alma as a prophet.
The Lamanites ultimately found them and place them under bondage, but the Lord lightened their burdens by strengthening their shoulder to bear them. They were a happy people despite their afflictions.
When the time was right, the Lord helped Alma's people escape from the Lamanites and return to Zarahemla. Limhi's people were also found and rescued by a search party from Zarahemla and were able to return to the main body of the Nephites. Even the children of the priests of Noah (who were by then adults) left their wicked fathers and traveled to Zarahemla.
Copyright December 2013, Gebara Education
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